Assigistob of



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. WASSUNG.

v GIGAR BUNDLING PRESS.

No. 353,521. Patented. Nov. 30, 1886.

A TTO/iWEYS (No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. WASSUNG.

CIGAR BUNDLING PRESS. No. 353,521.. Patented Nov. 30, 1886.

MVESSES? ,mMlivvggml? f Z1. Q By ATTORNEY! N, PETERS, Pho'oiilhognphm. Walhmgicn. D. c.

NITED STATES PATENT Trice.

\VILLIAM \VASSUNG, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TO PHILIP]? WALOH, OF SAME PLACE.

ClGAR-BUNDLING PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,521, dated November 30, 1886,

Application filed April 17, 1886. Serial No. 199,156. (No model.\

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM. \VASSUNG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cigar-Bundling Presses, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in presses for bundling cigars; and the invention consists in the peculiar arrangement and construction of the parts of the machine, as hereinafter fully described, and as pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure l is a front perspective view of a cigar-bundling press constructed according to my invention, the removable bottom board not being shown therein. Fig. 2isa front elevation, the open cover being shown turned up and a projecting portion of one end being shown broken away. Fig. 3 is a rear side elevation of the press-operating devices, together with a portion of the machine to which they are attached. Fig. 4 are perspective views of detail parts, hereinafter described.

In the drawings, 2 is the body of the press, of rectangular box-likeform, constructed,preferably, of hard wood, and having two ends and a rear side, and at one end a projecting stand or platform,- 3, on which are located the plunger-operating devices. In each of the inner opposite sides ofthe ends of the body 2 is formed a transverse groove, 4, and said grooves are adapted to receive the ends of a removable bottom, 5, the latter being adapted to slide in said grooves in and out of the body, and when placed in the latter it occupies the position shown in Fig. 2 relative to the lowerinain bottom of the body of the press, and it may be employed in the position shown in the lastnarned figure, or it may be turned over and placed in the body with what is now shown as 1 its upper side in Fig. 2 beneath the board and opposite the bottom of the press, thereby increasing the distance between the false bottom and the upper side of the body 2, to permit of putting foriningbloeks of greater dimensions into the pressthan those shown in said figure, as hereinafter described.

A cover, 6, made, preferably, of metal, and

having an opening therein,as shown, is hinged at the rear side of the body of the press, and is adapted to be turned upward, as shown in Fig. '2, to permit of placing the cigars conveniently in the press, and when turned down it is pressed more or less against said cigars, and is caught under a hook, 7, on each end of the body 2, whereby the cover is held in proper closed position. A metallic brace, S,is placed at the corners of the body of the press when required to strengthen the same.

A plunger, 9, is supported within one end of the body 2 upon a metallic arm, 10, which extends through said end into a groove in the upper side of the aforesaid projection 3, and the horizontal portion of said arm is provided with a rack on its upper side, as shown. On said projection 3 and on the adjoining end of the press are secured two metallic standards, 12, one on each side of the groove in said projection 3, and between said standards is pivoted a lever, 13, having on one end thereof a geared segment engaging with the aforesaid rack; and by the side of said lever 13, and on the same pivot on which the latter swings, is hung to vibrate a cam-shaped rack-stop, 14, whose lower edge is capable of engaging with said rack and preventing the plunger 9 from receding after having been forced against a bunch of cigars in the press.

A lever, 15, is pivoted on the side of lever 13, the lower end of which is adapted to engage with the upper short arm of the camstop 14 and cause the lower long arm of the latter to be swung upward out of engagement with said rack, thereby leaving said plunger free to be moved backward away from the bundle of cigars.

The plunger 9 has attached to its face a metallic plate, 16,(shown in Fig. 4,) having asuitable vertical slot therein to engage with the head of a screw,and the several forming-blocks 17 and 18 are each provided with a screw or pin, 19, adapted to engage in said plate 16, whereby when said blocks are placed in the press they are suitably attached to said plunger, so. that they move back and forth with the latter. The said forming-blocks are also attached to the end of the body of the press in the same manner that they are attached to said plunger,

as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the arrangement of said plate 16 being such that'the head of the screw on the forming-block is placed over the end of the plate, and engages with the latter when the block is dropped downward, and the latter is easily disengaged from the plunger or the end of the press by lifting it up. Said forming-blocks17 and 18 are made of different dimensions to adapt them to press bunches of cigars containing more or less in number of the latter, Fig. 1 showing an arrangement of the blocks 17 in the press (from which the removable bottom 5 is removed) to provide a large bunching-compartment be? tween the blocks, and Fig. 2 showing the arrangement of the blocks 18,in conjunction with the removable bottom 5, to provide a smaller munching-compartment between the blocks.

- Theoperationofrnyimprovementsinbunching cigars is as follows: The cover 6is opened, as in Fig. 2, and the usual bands or ribbons are placed between the forming-blocks 17 or 18, and the requisite number of cigars which is to form the bundle is placed between said blocks. The cover is then shut down and caught under the spring-hooks 7, whereby it isheld against the upper side of the cigars, preventingthem from rising when pressed, the plunger 9,-when the cigars are placed in the press, as

just stated,being drawn back by swinging lever 13 to the position against the end of the press, as shown in Fig. 1, and to press and form the bunch of cigars between the blocks 17 or18 the ends of both of the levers 13' and 15 are grasped and drawn together, therebys win ging the cam-stop 14: away from the rack on the plunger-arm,and then the upper ends of both of said levers are swung in adirection away from the end of thepress,thereby swinging said segmentin engagement with said rack and causing the plunger 9 and the forming-block attached thereto to move against said cigars and compress them into'a bundle corresponding to the form of the blocks between which they are pressed, said bundle being pressed between the fixed and the movable forming-block. The

- said levers are then released and the cam-stop 14 is allowed to drop down against said rack, thereby preventing the latter, the plunger, and the forming-block attached thereto from moving away from or releasing the cigars from pressure, after which the said bands or ribbons are tied and the bundling completed. 1

If desired, the bunch of cigars so formed may be leftin the press until, by partially drying, they will retain more completely the form given to the bundle by the formingblocks; or the bundle may be at once removed from the press, and to so remove thebundle the ends of levers'13and 15 are drawn together, as aforesaid, disengaging said cam-stop from the rack' and leaving the plunger free to be moved back,'with the forming-block attached thereto, away from the bunch of cigars.

"What I claim as my invention is l. A cigar-bundling press consisting of an open body, substantially as described, having one side openand a cover hinged thereon, a plunger supported at one end of said body within the latter, an arm to which said plunger is attached, extending through the end of said body and having a rack thereon,a lever pivotall y supported over the latter, having a geared segment thereon engaging with said rack, a stop-cam pivoted at the side of said lever and capable of swinging into engagement with said rack, a disengaging-lever pivoted on said segment-lever and having one end engaging with said stop-cam, and suitable forming-blocks removably attached to said plunger and to the inner end of the press, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. A cigar-bundling press consisting of an open body, substantially as described, having one side open and a cover hinged thereon, and a removable bottom, aplnnger supported at one end of said body within the latter, an

arm to which said plunger is attached, extendingthrough the end of said body and having a rack thereon, a lever pivotally'supported over the latter,having a geared segmentthereon engaging with said rack, a stop-cam pivoted at the side of said lever and capable of swinging into engagement with said rack, a disengaging-lever pivoted on said segment-lever and having one end engaging with said stopcam, .and suitable forming-blocks removably attached to said plunger and to the inner end of the press, combined and operating substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the body 2, of the forming -'blocks arranged in the latter, the plunger 9, acting against one of said blocks, the arm 10, attached tosaid plunger and having a rack thereon, the lever 13, having a geared-segment thereon engaging with said rack, the stop-cam 14, pivoted at the side of said lever, and the lever 15, pivoted on the side of the latter and engaging with said stop-cam, 

